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Arthouse Hotel

Built as the library, hall and rooms for the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, and long a centre of cultural life in Sydney, the Arthouse Hotel was converted into a pub in the 1990s.

Bondi-Waverley School of Arts

Public support for a school of arts in the Waverley area waxed and waned from the second half of the nineteenth century, leading to the Bondi-Waverley School of Arts being founded twice, once in 1859 and again in 1911.

Carmichael, Henry

Reverend, educationist, winemaker and activist, Henry Carmichael influenced education and public life in the colony for 30 years.

Central Railway Station

Central Railway Station was Sydney's third terminus, replacing the original 1855 station further south in Redfern and a later upgraded station built in the 1870s.

Centrepoint Tower

Reputedly sketched on a paper napkin, the design for the Sydney Tower, also called Sydney Tower, used new engineering solutions to build the tower and to manage the effect of the wind.

City Underground

The creation of a city railway was a central concern for town planners in Sydney from almost the moment that the first railway was opened in 1855. Initially the main terminus was in Cleveland Paddocks on the outskirts of the city, meaning commuters coming into town were required to alight from the train and transfer to trams, hansom cabs or omnibuses to continue into the city. The underground City Circle, and the city as we know it, took one hundred years to be completed.

Darlinghurst

Used by its traditional owners, the Gadigal people, well into the 1840s, Darlinghurst was a quarry and windmill site before it became popular for the fine villas of the colony's well-to-do, in the 1830s. Subsequent booms and busts raised and lowered the suburb's fortunes, creating the mix of poor and posh, criminal and respectable that have made Darlinghurst one of Sydney's most interesting localities.

Electrification of the Sydney Suburban Train Network

By the turn of the twentieth century, Sydney’s train network was under increasing pressure from an expanding suburbia, growing patronage, slow trains and a central terminal that was isolated from the city centre that it served. To revitalise the network and meet the needs of the growing city the railway needed to be extended through the city; the central terminal had to be relocated; and the entire network electrified. This work was the single most significant event in the history of the Sydney rail system, transforming the commuter experience and changing the face of the city.

Erskineville Bootmaking School

Growing out of the Sydney Technical College, the Erskineville Bootmaking School was a specialised trade training school, where the principles of bootmaking, and the maintenance of the machines used to make them, were taught to apprentices and returned servicemen from both world wars.

Fort Phillip

Standing high on Windmill Hill above The Rocks, Fort Phillip was built to defend the colony from threats coming from the ocean to the east, and the hinterland to the west. Though the guns remained there until the 1820s, the fort was never finished, and was more useful as a signal and telegraph station by 1840, when it was partly demolished.

Fowles, Joseph

Farmer, businessman, racing enthusiast, Joseph Fowles was also a successful artist, who left a visual record of Sydney in 1848 that remains invaluable to historians.

Glebe Island bridge

Since 1857 Glebe Island bridge has facilitated development in the western and northern suburbs. The third bridge to have been constructed on the site, the Anzac Bridge is an icon of Sydney engineering.

Glebe School of Arts and Literary Institute

Founded on three separate occasions, Glebe School of Arts only became financially secure because of its billiard tables. By the mid-twentieth century, when new entertainments were becoming available, the school was again in trouble and passed its library and building to the City of Sydney council.

Henry, Lucien

Freed from incarceration in New Caledonia for his revolutionary activities in the Paris Commune, Lucian Henry built a new life in Sydney as an artist, teacher and advocate for native Australian motifs in the decorative arts.

Holden, George Kenyon

Lawyer, reformer and stalwart of the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, George Kenyon Holden presided over its reinvention in the 1860s.

Hyde Park racecourse

Though it existed for only 15 years, Hyde Park racecourse was to set at least one standard for racing in New South Wales.

Industrial and Art Exhibition 1861

Devised as a publicity event, and to raise funds for the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, the Industrial Exhibition of 1861 revealed Sydneysiders' interest in science, technology and self-education when it attracted over 500 visitors per day for nearly six weeks.

Juniper Hall

Built on the ridge at Paddington, with views to the harbour and Botany Bay, Juniper Hall was the home of wealthy distiller and ex-convict Robert Cooper, and his large family. It was later used as a school, public building and court, and later subdivided into flats, before the National Trust of Australia (NSW) bought and restored it.

Kings Cross

Kings Cross exists in Sydney's imagination as much as it does in any physical form, and pinning down its geographical boundaries is difficult. It has loomed large in Sydney's culture since the first houses were built nearby in the 1830s, and continues to attract tourists and Sydneysiders alike.

L'Estrange, Henri

Aeronaut and funambulist, L'Estrange was one of the daring performers attempting unheard-of feats in Sydney during the 1870s and 1880s. Though not always successful, his exploits were usually both exciting and spectacular.

Lincoln House

Built as a commercial building in the 1920s, Lincoln House has had a second life as the headquarters of the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts.

Randwick racecourse

Called the Sandy Course when it first opened, Randwick racecourse began to draw huge crowds after the trams were extended to Alison Road, bringing bettors from distant suburbs. It was a military site during the world wars, and has been used for many special events.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Proposed in 1868 after the assassination attempt on Prince Alfred, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital was opened in 1882 and grew steadily. Closely linked with Sydney University, the hospital trained many doctors and nurses.

Russell, Peter Nicol

Engineer and businessman Peter Nicol Russell was a force in manufacturing, importing and sales of all kinds of metal work and engineering supplies, providing components for many large projects in nineteenth-century Sydney. Although he retired to Britain, he endowed the School of Engineering at the University of Sydney, to help it produce a new generation of engineers.

Sacred Heart Catholic church Darlinghurst

Two church buildings have served this parish, one of Sydney's earliest and most diverse. Services in Spanish and Portuguese were conducted from the nineteenth century, serving the local immigrant community. In 2004 the site became part of Notre Dame University Sydney.

St Benedict's Catholic church Broadway

Built in the mid-nineteenth century and containing one of Sydney's most significant church organs, St Benedict's was shortened in the 1930s when George Street West was widened to become Broadway.

St Brigid's Catholic church Millers Point

One of Sydney's oldest churches, St Brigid's Catholic church continues to serve its parishioners in Millers Point. Once known as St Bridget's, the church and school were run by religious of many orders.

St James Anglican church Queens Square

Designed as a court house, St James was made into a church after Commissioner Bigge decided Macquarie's plans for the city were too expensive. One of Sydney's few Georgian-style churches, St James has been extensively modified.

St Mary's Cathedral

The first St Mary's was built slowly between 1821 and 1835, and subsequently added to, but burned down in 1865. The new cathedral, also built slowly in sections, was not finished until 1928, and the towers were only added in 2000.

St Patrick's Catholic church Church Hill

An early focus for the Irish Catholic community in Sydney, St Patrick's became a symbol of Irish pride. Thousands of worshippers, carrying green flags, marched through the city to its foundation stone-laying ceremony in 1840.

St Stephen's Presbyterian church Macquarie Street

This interwar Gothic building, opened in 1935, became the home of Sydney's oldest Presbyterian congregation, after the extension of Martin Place to Macquarie Street led to the demolition of the previous St Stephen's in Phillip Street.

Technical and Working Men's College

Established as a joint enterprise by the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, the Trades and Labour Council and the Engineering Association, and run by the School of Arts, Sydney's first technical college opened its doors in 1878. Its immediate success with students, despite financial and physical difficulties, proved the need for systematic technical education in the city.

Transport House building

Transport House won the Sulman Award for its architects Henry E Budden and Mackey in 1936, incorporating art deco interiors with the latest technology, such as air conditioning and escalators. Green tiles exactly the same colour as Sydney's railway carriages at the time marked the building as the headquarters of New South Wales State Railways.

Ultimo House

Demolished in 1932, Ultimo House was then claimed to be Sydney's oldest residence. It had been one of the most prestigious houses in the colony.

Vernon nautical training ship

An industrial training school for destitute children founded on a ship, the Vernon, and its successor Sobraon, was designed to protect and look after wayward boys, as well as giving them useful training.

Villawood detention centre

Built on a munitions factory site, the Villawood detention centre started out as a migrant hostel, welcoming postwar immigrants to Sydney.

Waterloo Tanning School

Set up as part of Sydney Technical College, the Tanning School aimed to raise the skill level of leatherworkers, so that the local industry could compete with higher quality imported goods. In the end the school outlived Sydney's leather industry, and closed in 1999.

Wayside Chapel

founded by Tedd Noffs, the Wayside Chapel has been a landmark in Kings Cross since 1963, helping locals and visitors and creating several organisations active in drug rehabilitation, life education and other social reform.

White Bay power station

In operation from 1917 to 1984, the White Bay Power Station helped to power Sydney for most of the twentieth century. The site is now the last remaining example of a coal-dependent, harbourside, industrial complex, once common in Sydney.

Windeyer, William Charles

An eminent lawyer and politician, William Windeyer was also a stalwart of the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, and an advocate of education for all.